Target-trap and flying target



(N0 Modem B. TEIPEL.

TARGET TRAP AND FLYING TARGET.

No. 342,718. Patented May 25, 1886.

UNITED, STATESv PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN TEIPEL, OF OOVINGTON, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR TO THE LIGOWSKY CLAY PIGEON COMPANY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

TARGET-TRAP AND FLYING TARGET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 342,718, dated May 25, 1886. Application filed September 12, 1885. Serial No.176,904. (No model.)

To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN TEIPEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Covington, in the county of Kenton and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Holding and Throwing Flying Targets, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for holding and throwing targets, so as to give a whirling and soaring flight, simulating the rise of a bird fromitscover. Itisdesirabletoavoidsuch projections from the lateral periphery of the target as would interfere with packing, or be liable to be accidentally broken off in shipping or use, and as might unfavorably afiect the flight of the target. As such targets are intended to be shattered when shot, it is necessary to avoid every featurein their construction which would add to the expense. It is also important to impart a positive and energetic rotary or whirling movement to the target as it is discharged from the trap, to have it capable of being readily introduced into the trap, and of being used repeatedly until broken by being shot; and the object of my invention is to effeet a means of holding and throwing a target which, while dispensing with a tongue or other projection beyond the lateral periphery of the target, and with the expense and inconvenience incident thereto, shall insure the proper flight being imparted, and at the same time enable the target to be readily grasped by the trap and repeatedly used when not struck.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my target in the grasp of the holder. Fig. 2 is a side View of a portion of the holder and throwing-arm, showing their attachment to each other; and Fig. 3 an elevation of the peripheral rest which receives the target, and in which it is firmly held by means of the finger Shown in Fig. 1.

A is the target, which I make of clay or other fragile material and in concave form.

B is a knob on the convex surface of the target.

0 is a finger pivoted to the throwing-arm and clasping the target in the rear of the knob, about which it hooks. This finger, as shown,

has a wing, D, extending beyond its pivot and provided with lugs m m, which, by coming in contact with the pin 0, serve as stops to limit its movement in each direction.

E is the rest in which the target is supported, and which is preferably pivoted at p to the throwing-arm, so as to swing on the same center as the above-mentioned finger.

F is the throwing-arm.

q is a spring or cushion placed on the shank of the pivot. By screwing up or unscrewing the nut r the stress of the spring is varied. This provides an elastic clamp upon the finger-rest in their pivotal movement, whose tension may be regulated to cause them to swing with more or less freedom, as may be desired.

For the best results the finger and the rest should be made of sheet metal or other material sufficiently elastic to afford some spring to and from the target which they embrace, while they should be substantially rigid against stress in other directionsthat is, the finger should be substantially rigid against a backward thrust, (except such play as it may be allowed on its pivot,) while being capable of some elastic yielding vertically, or at right angles to the plane in which it swings, and the rest should be substantially rigid against any vertical strain across the plane in which it swings,while yielding elastically to the periphery of the target, and to release the target when thrown; It is obvious, however, that some of the advantages of. my invention may be obtained without giving this elasticity to these parts; so, also, other shapes may be given to these parts, providing they perform essentially the same office. The pivotal play may be given to one of them only, or they may be pivoted to different centers but such modifications, while preserving some of the advantages of my invention, would be deficient in others. Different contrivances for limiting the pivotal movement of the finger may also be used without departing from the substance of my invention.

To place the target in the holder it is only 95 necessary to press it into the rest with aslight backward or rotary thrust, with the knob somewhat in front of the finger. This causes the rest at the same time it clasps the periphery to swing backward, while the finger be- I00 ing arrested in itsbackward movement by the lug or stop or coming in contact with the pin, is by the same movement thrust against and caused to clasp the knob, one movement of the hand thus introducing the target in the firm grasp of the holder and into the proper position for throwing. 'When upon the discharge of the target the throwing-arm is arrested in its movement, the holder swings forward until the stop or pin m comes in contact with the lug, causing the finger to become rigid while the rest continues its forward movement. The target is thus forcibly ejected from the holder, and has imparted to it the effective rotary movement desired in its flight. The expense and inconvenience attendant upon the use of tongues is avoided, while a better throwing mechanism is provided.

The knob on the target is so located that it I does not interfere with the packing, and is in tact protected by the packing, and is not liable to be broken in use, except as the target itself is destroyed.

I claim as my invention- 1. In combination with a rest for supporting the target at its periphery, the pivot-finger having a shorter oscillatory movement than said rest independently thereof and in a substantially parallel plane, and extending above said rest to clasp the upper surface of the target, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a peripheral rest for a target, yielding elastically to radial pressure, and a finger extending above the same to clasp the upper surface of the target, having an independent oscillatory movement in a plane substantially parallel to the movement of said rest, and provided with a hook, for the purpose described.

3. The combination of a peripheral rest for a target pivotally connected to the throwingarm, and a hook-finger also pivotally connected to said arm, soasto swing thereonindependently of said rest, extending sufliciently above said rest to bear against the upper surface of the target, thereby clasping the target in said rest, and having a shorter oscillation on its pivot than said rest, substantially for the purpose described.

4. In combination with a peripheral rest for a target, a finger projecting above the same, pivoted to swing independently on the same center, and provided with a stop to arrest its forward movement before the rest has reached the limit of its movement, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination of an elastic swingingv peripheral rest, and a hooked overreaching finger swinging concentrically with said rest, and

yielding elastically transversely to the plane in which it oscillates,substantiall y for the purpose described.

6. In combination with a pivoted peripheral rest, an overraching hooked finger pivoted to swing independently of said rest and in a plane substantially parallel. therewith, and a stop on said finger whereby its backward movement is arrested before the limit of the backward movement of the rest is reached, for

the purpose described.

7. In combination with a peripheral rest for a target, an overreaching hooked finger pivotally connected to the throwing-arm, having a horizontal movement independently of said rest, and having a flange or wing provided with stops to limit the movement of said finger in each direction, substan ially for the purpose specified.

8. In combination with a peripheral rest and overreaching arm having a horizontal movement independently of said rest, a pivot provided with a cushion and'adjustable clamp, whereby their resistance to pivotal movement may be regulated, substantially for the purpose described.

9. The combination, with a peripheral rest and overreaching finger having a horizontal oscillation independently of said rest, of a target having a knob on its upper surface intermediate between the center and circumference thereof, behind which the finger hooks while clamping the target in said rest, sub-.

stantially for the purpose described.

10. In combination with a concave flying target, a knob on the upper inclined surface thereof intermediate between the center and circumference projecting above the adjacent surface, as Well that extending circumferentially of the target as radially thereof, and adapted to be clasped by a hooked finger swinging in a plane substantially parallel with that from which said knob is projected, and thereby secure" the target in the peripheral rest and impart rotary impulse thereto when discharged, substantially as described.

11. The combination of a throwing-arm and elastic periphery rest and an elastic yielding hook projecting above said rest, each inde-r pendently pivoted upon said throwing-arm and swinging in substantially parallel planes, for the purpose described.

BEN. TEIPEL.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR LE BOUTILLIER,

SAML. S. CARPENTER. 

